Poland successfully managed its integration into the European Union since joining in 2004, and during the 2008-09 global financial crises it was the only member to experience growth. Poland is a high-income country with a large and diversified domestic economy.
Read More »

The flexibility, administrative simplicity, and lower taxation offered by civil contracts account for their popularity in Poland, according to recent focus groups conducted by the World Bank with empl... Show More +oyers throughout the country. These contracts are increasingly being utilized, as they tend to be more suitable for promoting employment among some segments of the labor force - such as older workers and women interested in part-time jobs - while simultaneously providing much needed experience to young workers just starting out in the labor market.However, while nearly half of older workers say they are employed through a temporary contract by choice, these contracts are involuntary for most other groups of jobseekers. The analysis from the focus groups also revealed that workers under involuntary, temporary contracts earn less than similar workers employed under permanent contracts.Although these employment practices are common throughout the world, they also have the potential to create a unique set of problems for Poland. Unlike permanent employment contracts, civil contracts do not provide automatic affiliation with health insurance or social security benefits. Furthermore, these contracts do not provide vacation benefits, a minimum wage, or a period of notice – leaving many employees trapped in a low-paying contract with virtually no job security. Furthermore, firms have few incentives to invest in training and building the skills of their temporary workforce – potentially creating an important obstacle to productivity growth in the country if most new hires are being employed under temporary contracts. As part of its ongoing knowledge partnership with Poland, experts from the World Bank Group are working with their counterparts in different ministries, organizations, and associations throughout Poland to better understand the impacts – both positive and negative – of these temporary contracts, as well as look at ways to improve the overall employment situation there. This partnership is simultaneously focusing on gaining a better understanding of the unique conditions being created in Poland’s labor markets and designing appropriate alternatives. According to emerging findings from this research, curbing the use of civil contracts will require interventions on multiple fronts in order to avoid significant disincentives for employment resulting from an increase in labor costs for current temporary workers, especially those with low skills. In particular, a first step should be to confine the use of civil contracts to atypical jobs, within the scope of the law, through stronger enforcement of regulations. Secondly, civil contracts should carry similar contributory and tax obligations as labor contracts, in order to reduce the current gap in conditions and basic protection.At the same time, a number of measures could be taken to reduce the cost of labor contracts. First, increasing the non-taxable allowance of labor income, and engaging in a strong simplification of the labor code would reduce the costs faced by firms when switching workers from civil to labor contracts. Secondly, an additional set of measures could help reduce the gap between term and permanent labor contracts, especially addressing the costs and the predictability of dismissal procedures, so as to facilitate the path toward stable labor contracts for most workers. Show Less -

June 2014 - Global Economic Prospects is a World Bank Group flagship report which twice yearly examines growth trends for the global economy and how they affect developing countries. The reports ... Show More +include three-year forecasts for the global economy and individual developing countries and regions.Europe and Central Asia - OverviewA modest recovery in the developing Europe and Central Asia region remained on track in the first quarter of 2014, despite headwinds from global financial turbulence since late January and the ongoing geopolitical tension between Russia and Ukraine. Industrial output accelerated to an annualized rate of 12 percent in March in the developing Central and Eastern Europe sub-region, notably Hungary and Romania, helped by rising exports to the Euro Area.In Turkey, industrial output continued to expand in the first three months of the year, helped by strong export growth. But momentum has slowed and weakening business and consumer confidence point to softening domestic demand ahead. In addition, higher inflation and past currency weakness are constraining private consumption and investment.Among the developing Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), slowdown in key trading partners, geopolitical tensions, declining metal and mineral prices and domestic capacity constraints have slowed growth in 2014. Growth in Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan moderated with new delays in bringing additional oil production capacity on-stream.In Ukraine, escalating tensions with Russia and domestic political instability contributed to a 12.5 percent contraction in Q1 GDP. Gross capital flows to the region halved in February but have since rebounded strongly led by a surge in bond issuance. However overall flows remain 42 percent lower than the same period last year and equity flows remain negligible. OutlookThe outlook for the developing Europe and Central Asia region has weakened in the near term, owing to a sharper-than-expected slowdown in a number of large economies in the region, including Turkey, Kazakhstan, and Ukraine. Growth in the region is expected to temporarily weaken to 2.4 percent in 2014 before picking up to 3.7 and 4.0 percent in 2015 and 2016, respectively. While most developing countries in the Central and Eastern Europe sub-region are expected to see strengthening in growth this year as they continue to benefit from stronger import demand from the Euro Area, Turkey remains vulnerable to domestic and external shocks, including higher inflation, political uncertainty, and tighter global financial conditions.For the developing CIS, a marked slowdown is expected this year, reflecting weaker revised forecast for Kazakhstan and Ukraine, as well as broader spillovers from the slowdown in Russia and China, the largest trading and investment partners, and a weakening trend in key commodity prices. The developing CIS is also exposed to worsening geopolitical tensions in Russia and Ukraine.Belarus is heavily exposed through trade linkages to Ukraine and Russia as are Armenia and Moldova, while remittances from Russia are a substantial share of GDP in Armenia, Kyrgyz Republic, Moldova and Tajikistan.RisksHeightened tensions between the European Union (EU) and Russia are a key downside risk to the regional forecast. Given the close economic interdependence between the EU and Russia, an escalation of sanctions would likely impose large economic costs and damage recoveries in both areas, with significant negative spillovers throughout the region. In addition, disorderly adjustments to higher global interest rates - either due to anticipated or actual monetary policy tightening in the United States or general increases in risk aversion - continue to pose a risk. There are also clear downside risks from weaker domestic demand in the Central and Eastern Europe sub-region particularly in the Southern Europe, relating in the near term to devastating floods (especially in Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina) and in the medium term to still high unemployment, high private sector debt, and the slow recovery in bank lending amid high (and in some cases rising) nonperforming loans. Downside risks to commodity prices and potential weakening of remittance inflows from Russia represent a major source of uncertainty for developing CIS. Show Less -

WARSAW, June 9, 2014 – A comprehensive set of reforms is required to sustainably improve the performance of Polish hospitals, argues a new World Bank Policy Note entitled Poland – improving the financ... Show More +ial sustainability of the hospital sector: towards a systemic approach.The Note finds that the Polish hospital system is oversized, and that it is organized, regulated, and funded in such a way that hospitals compete with each other in ways that do not benefit the patients. The Note proposes a comprehensive diagnostic of the issues faced by the hospital sector, including in terms of financing. The Note recommends specific reforms to sustainably improve the efficiency of the hospital sector and to free up resources to better meet patients’ needs. The 2011 Law on Therapeutic Services provides a good starting point, as it increases the financial accountability of hospital founders. International experience suggests that additional reforms are needed, including:- Fostering cooperation and networking (and not only competition) among hospitals. This is about concentrating the delivery of highly specialized services and organizing an integrated system of care across facilities. It has proven the most efficient way to avoid redundant investments and ensure the quality of services. It will require: (i) designing and implementing “health maps”, to optimize the organization of care providers in a given area based on health needs of the local population; and (ii) putting in place strong incentives for hospital owners/founders to work together better.- Organizing the purchasing of health services by the health insurance fund in such a way as to promote the reconfiguration of service delivery, and ensure that the prices of hospital services better reflect relative costs.- Modernizing quality assurance mechanisms to put less emphasis on inputs, and measure quality in a more explicit and transparent way. To implement such a program, organizational reforms will be needed, in particular to provide the strong stewardship that is needed in a highly decentralized sector. In the meantime, hospitals and regional authorities can make improvements, for instance, by producing and publishing hospital indicator dashboards, increasing management capacity and oversight, developing systematic evaluations and joint-learning, and designing mid- to long-term strategic frameworks.“This Policy Note reflects on our policy dialogue with various stakeholders in Poland and proposes a way forward based on international best practice,” said, Xavier Devictor, World Bank Country Manager for Poland and the Baltic Countries. “Much has been done, however, much remains to be done to improve the delivery of health services in Poland. The World Bank stands ready to support policy makers and share international experience with Poland.” Show Less -

As European elections are approaching, there is much talk across the Union about the rise of populist and “anti-EU” forces, from France to Hungary, from the Netherlands to Greece. Even in mainst... Show More +ream parties, it is increasingly common to question the so-called “European project” and to look for ways to avoid abiding by the common rules. It is not my role to comment on these debates. But it is interesting to observe that there has been a parallel trend, which has been less noticed and less discussed – i.e. that the EU may have become increasingly inward-looking.The Eurozone crisis, the negotiations of the successive bail-outs, the focus on enforcing the Maastricht rules, the internal functioning of a complex and unprecedented 28-member group, and the building of an “ever-closer” union in areas such as the financial sector have absorbed most of the political energy in the EU. There is no question that these were important steps and necessary reforms – and that the people in the EU are better off as a result of these efforts. But in the process, the EU may have been less active in discussions that span beyond its borders, from the multilateral forums to the associations with neighboring countries.In parallel, the flows of trade and investment have remained heavily “within-EU” focused, with the exception of a few member countries. Let’s illustrate this with a few numbers. Global trade has increased by over 120 percent since 2004, but for EU members, trade with non-EU countries has increased by less than 10 percent in the same period. Trade with the rest of the world represents only about 25 percent of GDP for the EU, compared to 30 percent for the US, 54 percent for China, and 49 percent for the rest of East Asia.This pattern is particularly worrisome in a time of rapid globalization, when much of the global economic growth is outside of the EU and when global competitors are increasingly asserting themselves. “Emerging” economies have largely emerged, and while the EU remains a formidable economic block, its relationship with these powers is increasingly on an equal-to-equal footing. Indian steelmakers own steel plants in France. Chinese investors are purchasing Italian treasury bonds. The Brazilian food industry is at the forefront of research. And the average speed of internet connection in Korea is twice faster than what we consider “fast broadband” in Europe (not to mention that less than 20 percent of EU citizens have a connection faster than 10 Mbps, compared to over 70 percent of Koreans).A colleague of mine recently told an insightful anecdote: “When I went to China in 1991, I was asked to make a talk at a prestigious Shanghai university. My lecture was translated into Chinese, and none of the students asked any question. When I went back in 2001, I was asked to repeat the experience. This time, there was no translation: all students spoke English, and asked questions. In 2011, I did it again. One third of the students were non-Chinese, including a number of Europeans”. This is the prefiguration of tomorrow’s world, a world in which working together within the EU will be key for individual countries to maintain some influence over the shaping of the global “rules of the game”.Europe has a long tradition of openness. Of venturing to other parts of the world, and promoting exchanges (even if this was not always done in a peaceful manner). Of opening its borders to large numbers of immigrants, who can bring new blood and new ideas. Europe is not only part of “the old world”: its geography and its history provide it with a unique position to blend ideas, to bridge between continents, and to help create a new world.The recent crisis forced the people in the EU and their political leadership to focus on internal issues. This was necessary. But the continued changes in the global arena should now lead us to look once again beyond our common border. This is critical for the EU, but this is also critical for each individual EU country, such as Poland. Show Less -

The recent financial crisis has
emphasized the role of national saving for rising economic
growth and promoting development. Since the crisis began,
global markets ... Show More +have experienced deteriorating public
finances, household deleveraging, differing speeds of
recovery, and eroding confidence in financial systems, all
of which have deterred long-term investments. In the context
of this new growth agenda, the present report analyzes the
trends and determinants of domestic saving in Poland and
provides policy options for increasing saving, particularly
over the long term. Improved national saving provides
funding for a country to take advantage of more investment
opportunities. From the microeconomic perspective,
increasing national saving will support incomes in an aging
society, helping address the issue of the adequacy of
retirement incomes. However, increasing national saving
involves also some costs, which should be carefully balanced
against the potential benefits. In this context, the report
is divided into seven chapters. Chapter one gives
introduction. Chapter two presents recent trends and
determinants of growth in Poland, as well as challenges for
its long-term prospects. Chapter three discusses the
determinants of and influences on the level of private
saving. Chapter four complements this discussion by
portraying the government's role in determining the
level of saving in the economy. Chapter five discusses the
importance of saving for the financial sector, its ability
to promote saving, and instruments that may be promoted to
meet the needs of Polish savers. Chapter six quantifies the
impact of potential changes to the main determinants of
saving on performance of saving and economic growth in
Poland. Finally, chapter seven focuses on policy analysis. Show Less -

Some 300 kilometers to the North, in the town of Miechów, Zbigniew is also suffering extreme poverty and increasing social exclusion. Zbigniew is a 46-year-old man who has lived on and off the street ... Show More +since losing his job and his home following the collapse of the communist regime in Poland more than 20 years ago. Although he, too, has benefitted from some social programs in the country and is able to secure work from time to time, Zbigniew nonetheless feels trapped by his situation – unable to secure housing without a job and unable to land a job without a permanent address.“It’s a limitation of civil rights,” says Zbigniew, “nobody cares about the homeless.”While Poland has made significant progress in helping excluded populations around the country integrate into mainstream economic activities and benefit from ongoing economic growth, the stories of Ewa and Zbigniew are reminders of just how much work is left to be done. As part of a broader European Union flagship initiative aimed at increased economic and social inclusion for 20 million people by 2020, Poland has committed to help lift 1.5 million people out of poverty in the country and increase inclusion for these individuals. Two fundamental components necessary to meet this goal, however, are increasing information about socially excluded groups and improving ongoing initiatives aimed at addressing the needs of the excluded – whether they be unemployed single mothers, homeless men, or an unprotected employee working on an unstable contract that could end at any moment.“Lifting people out of poverty in Poland today is more difficult than 20 years ago,” says Rob Swinkels, Senior Social Development Specialist at the World Bank and lead author of a new report on social inclusion in Poland, “the problems that continue to hamper the progress of those who still have not escaped poverty and exclusion are deeper and their situations more complex than in the past. As such, we need to really do some new thinking and design a new approach to these problems and this situation.”Swinkels, along with a research team from Jagiellonian University in Poland and other experts, set out to assess the current situation in three regions in Poland by identifying those groups that the local population and government and NGO experts believe to be socially excluded, pinpoint the driving factors of this exclusion, and determine what social inclusion interventions are perceived to work well and which ones are thought to be less successful and why. . The result of this analysis is the recently launched “Toward Greater Social Inclusion in Poland” report, which offers concrete recommendations for tackling social exclusion in a more effective manner.Fieldwork for this new study included 18 focus group discussions with 225 excluded people, 30 interviews with officials, and 9 case studies of individualsThe report suggest that a new approach – one that is more holistic in nature and reflects the multiple disadvantages that excluded people face – is necessary to improve upon the successes and learn from the failures of ongoing social programs in the country. Recommendations from the report include the need to raise political attention to social exclusions, design a multi-sectoral approach, strengthening diagnosis at the municipal level, involving excluded people more in the design of inclusion programs, improving transparency around eligibility rules for social benefits, reduce stigmatisation by officials in charge of social benefits, improving care facilities for children and the elderly, making EU-funding programs more flexible, and many others.With the infusion of a new EU funding cycle in Poland - and part of these funds earmarked for tackling social inclusion - the findings and recommendations from this report are particularly relevant. By taking a new approach, based on the successes and failures of the ongoing approach, policymakers in Poland are working to ensure that even more people are lifted out of poverty over the next decade than in the last – helping Ewa feed her family Zbigniew find a home. Show Less -

In Poland, addressing the situation of
the remaining poor groups is likely to become much harder
over time as their problems are likely to be deeper and
their situa... Show More +tion more complex. A social inclusion approach
that tackles their multiple disadvantages will be needed.
This study aims to contribute to Poland's social
inclusion debate by providing policy makers and civil
society with evidence from the field about (1) what
population groups are currently 'socially
excluded;' (2) what are the driving factors of their
exclusion; and (3) the success and failure of current social
inclusion policies and programs. The ultimate goal of this
work is to make current social inclusion interventions more
effective by learning from what has been tried. The findings
are particularly relevant now that a new EU funding cycle
has started, with part of the funds earmarked for tackling
social inclusion. The study was conducted in three regions:
Malopolskie, Podkarpackie, and Mazowieckie (in Radom County
only). The first two are among Poland's poorest regions
in terms of income poverty. The part of Mazowieckie in which
the research was conducted also has a higher than average
poverty rate; in addition, the unemployment rate there (31
percent) is much greater than the national average (about 13
percent in 2013). Capitals of the other two regions were
excluded from the research. Show Less -

In order to address these problems, a team from the Poverty Reduction Economic Management (PREM) and Human Development (HD) Departments of the World Bank Group – led by Hans Timmer, World Bank Chief E... Show More +conomist for the Europe and Central Asia (ECA) region – convened at a regional aging workshop in Munich on March, 31 – April, 1, 2014. The “From known knowns to unknown unknowns” workshop – jointly organized by the World Bank and the Munich Center for the Economics of Aging – offered participants a chance to learn from international experts and exchange views on the questions of aging and the potential impacts on the economies in Europe and around the world. The Workshop was financed through innovation grant in the Europe and Central Asia (ECA) region and represented an opportunity for experts from the World Bank to share knowledge and experience with external partners.The primary macroeconomic implication of aging is a shrinking supply of labor resulting from a declining working-age population. The structure of working age population will change as well, with potential implications for labor productivity due to loss of dynamism and less job reallocation across occupations, sectors and locations. This has significant implications for economic growth - which depends on the supply and productivity of labor. Furthermore, aging populations tend to save less, what can have negative consequences for investment and capital accumulation and thus further slowdown economic growth. Population aging will increase demand pressures on public services, most importantly the provision of health care and long term care. Finally, increasing expenditure on pensions and health care will affect long term sustainability of public finances.In the face of these daunting challenges, how do we move forward?This was the question that the panelists tried to answer in the final session, also offering their views on how the World Bank Group already is and can be engaged in assisting our clients in these issues. According to Hans Timmer political economy plays a large role when it comes to designing responses to the challenges of aging. Any response should take into consideration the realities of an individual country or region – avoiding the trap of a ‘one size fits all’ model – and importantly, should have strong analytical underpinnings to have a good understanding of underlying demographic processes and factors. He also found that in ECA strong cohort effects may be at play - low labor market participation rates in old age may be a transitory phenomenon, which may reflect specific education and work experience background gained during the communist period. Looking ahead future generations of old age workers may show much more open and active mindset. What should be further analyzed is the impact of aging on dynamism and labor market outcomes, the impact on asset prices and the impact on environment.As many of the challenges that countries in the ECA region face mirror those in more advanced countries in Western European, broader cooperation and increased knowledge transfers with these countries would be beneficial to all involved partners.In keeping with the title of the workshop, the group was able to address some key challenges of the “known knowns” of aging. Areas where further analysis is needed – the “known unknowns” – were also discussed. At the heart of the issue, then, according to many of the participants at the workshop are the “unknown unknowns” – the areas and impacts that we do not currently see and have not yet analyzed. By continuing to convene high-level workshops like this one, however, it is hoped that more can be learned about these unknowns – unlocking both the questions and their answers. Show Less -

So far, the new climate modeling interaction between public administration and leading academic experts has produced a national plan to help Poland develop a long-term lower emissions economy.The plan... Show More + focuses on clean energy sources, energy efficiency, materials management, low emissions technologies, waste management, and new consumption patterns.“Now that we have our own model, we will be able to be more active in climate polices,” Boniewicz says.Officials involved in economic, environmental, and financial policies say that, through the new climate modeling unit, it is now possible to measure the impact of specific economic policies on climate - and to take this into account as part of the decision-making process. Show Less -

The recent discussions about reforms in Ukraine have highlighted the detrimental impact energy subsidies can have from a social, fiscal, environmental, and governance perspective.Poland has had its ow... Show More +n experience with artificially set prices, which do not reflect any economic reality, and with widespread subsidies which end up fueling corruption. Poles know firsthand about the deleterious effect of such policies. Yet, in a number of countries, from Eastern Europe to the Middle East, from Latin America to East Asia, they remain in force.In many instances, energy subsidies are probably well intentioned – it is about making it possible for the poorest to afford the gas or the fuel they need for their daily lives. On the face of it, removing such subsidies may appear as unfair and heartless, a move that would further aggravate the situation of those who are already struggling.Yet, this is one of those situations where well-intentioned policies can have a very negative impact.Indeed, in many instances, energy subsidies do not mainly benefit the poor, not even the lower middle class. Time and again, detailed analysis of “who gets what” reveals that the well-off are those who gain the most: since they tend to have larger homes to heat and more powerful cars, they use more energy... What was designed as a scheme to protect the poor ends up being a transfer of public resources to the wealthier part of society.Furthermore, subsidies encourage waste. Subsidized energy is relatively cheap, and hence wasting it is cheap. Countries with large energy subsidies tend to have a poor track record on conservation and energy efficiency. And the numbers are huge. For example, the energy wasted in the countries of the former socialist block (that is, the amounts that could be saved if energy systems were as efficient as in OECD) is equal to… the entire consumption of Latin America. Less subsidies, and hence higher prices, would no doubt encourage a more efficient use.Energy subsidies also often drain public resources. Instead of investing in the future – of building schools, improving infrastructure, or modernizing hospitals – countries spend to fuel their immediate consumption. Subsidies also reduce the resources available for other social expenditures (including those which would have really benefited the poorest). Considering that in many countries energy subsidies still amount to 5 to 10 percent of GDP, they often account for a large share of the fiscal deficit, and are a primary cause of public indebtedness. And finally, subsidies foster corruption. If energy prices differ across the economy (for example, if households consumption is subsidized while industries are not), profiteers will take advantage of the opportunity to buy in one market and resell on the other (or to smuggle across the border)… and they will pocket the subsidy. Considering the amounts at stake, this can become an avenue for rapid enrichment by a few profiteers at the expense of society: typically several percent of GDP end up in such pockets, year after year !The solution – as the Poles know well for having done it in the early 1990s – is to get the prices right. That is, to remove the subsidies and sell energy at market prices.So, why do so many countries not do it ? Simply put, because they are afraid of the short-term political costs, as citizens will see their energy bills increase dramatically. Experience across the world, from Central Europe to Latin America and the Middle East, provides important lessons for countries like Ukraine which are considering an in-depth reform. In particular, it suggests that this political risk can be reduced through a combination of communication and compensation.Communicate –explain to the people the reasons for change, the fact that what was designed as a genuine way to help the poorest actually helps the well-off, or even worse the corrupters, and show how the resources saved from the removal of subsidies will be redeployed. Compensate – and ensure that the poorest do not end up being worst off without the subsidies. Where a social protection system is in place, this is relatively easy to do: the Government can increase social assistance payments by the amount corresponding to the forfeited subsidies. Even if the poorest are integrally compensated, the savings for the Government will be very large, since the subsidies benefit mainly the well-off and are in part diverted into corrupt schemes.There are of course voices calling for caution, and for taking time to implement such difficult reforms. And indeed, haste can be counterproductive. But caution can also easily become an excuse for procrastination, especially for those who would lose the most from a well-handled removal of subsidies: not the poorest, but the rapidly-enriched profiteers. In fact, when a country is on the verge of economic collapse, there may not be any option but to act. Show Less -

“Thanks to our cooperation with the World Bank, we are in touch with their experts as well as other international experts who specialize in innovation,” he says, referring to the ongoing cooperation o... Show More +f the National Center for Research and Development with the World Bank as part of another RAS.Since 1989, incomes for the country’s 38 million people have more than doubled in real terms, but a gap in income relative to Western Europe still remains.Boosting innovation is one way to help close this gap, and ensure sustained prosperity for all in the future. Show Less -

In Emerging Europe and Central Asia, most countries have done relatively well at increasing the incomes of the bottom 40 percent, which grew by an average of 3.8 percent from 2005 to 2010, faste... Show More +r than the income growth of the population overall. Even though these gains proved resilient to the 2008–09 global financial crisis, the region now stands at a crossroads.The crisis that abruptly halted a prolonged period of strong economic growth in the first decade of the century has been followed by a tepid recovery, leaving many economies in Emerging Europe and Central Asia at risk of economic stagnation. Short- to medium-term growth forecasts remain grim, with fiscal austerity measures and stifled investment fueling growing frustration and social unrest – particularly among the young, unemployed, and socially excluded.To prevent past economic gains from being reversed, a better understanding of the interplay between equity and growth is essential for development practitioners, policy makers, and governments.The World Bank Group has recently renewed its overall strategy, establishing two overarching goals: eliminating extreme poverty and boosting shared prosperity. The latter objective, which is the focus of a new report, Shared Prosperity: Paving the Way in Europe and Central Asia, aims to increase the welfare of the bottom 40 percent of the income distribution in every country. Long-term sustainability of social progress is also an important consideration in pursuing both of these overarching goals.A commitment to the advancement of the least well-off is not new for the World Bank, which has consistently worked to ensure that economic growth is shared widely, and that it benefits lower-income groups. In 1974, a group of World Bank economists first highlighted the need to view distributional objectives jointly with growth objectives, and to express these objectives dynamically in terms of desired rates of growth of income of different groups. Their quest reflected an early vision of what would eventually become an integral part of the World Bank Group’s strategy to foster income growth of the bottom 40 percent of the population in every country.Four decades ago, the existing data was far less comprehensive and advanced than that which is available today. With more than 4,000 surveys of households and firms across 192 countries, a wealth of data now exists on a wide range of topics such as living standards, demographic characteristics and health conditions, financial situations, constraints to growth, and investment environments, which helps to advance economic theory and to better identify and evaluate the impact of economic shocks and policies.New ways of thinking are required in the debate about shared prosperity in Emerging Europe and Central Asia – and beyond – if we are to better understand the conditions and policies that lead to more systematic income growth for the bottom 40 percent and identify policies and investments that can help countries accelerate income growth for this group of the population.To this end, the report seeks to provide a view of shared prosperity that reconciles equity and growth, while building a bridge between macro-economic and micro-economic drivers of income growth among the bottom 40 percent in different parts of the region. Achieving shared prosperity may be an enormous challenge, but it is one that can be met with bold thinking and determined action.Related Feature Story: Mariam and Emre - two stories of shared prosperity--------------------------------------------Permanent URL for this page: www.worldbank.org/eca/sharedprosperity Show Less -

WARSAW, April 4, 2014 – The World Bank today launched the “Review of national and regional research and innovation strategies for smart specialization (RIS3) in Poland” report at the Ministry of Infra... Show More +structure and Development. The main goal of the Review is to provide insights on how to improve the current Research and Innovation Strategies (RIS3), to better guide and increase the efficiency of public support for innovation at the national and regional level. To receive funds for innovation during the current 2014-2020 European Union (EU) financial perspective, Poland needs to develop a new innovation framework, including Research and Innovation Strategies (RIS3s), consistent with the new “smart specialization” concept developed by the European Commission.In this context, the Ministry of Infrastructure and Development has requested the World Bank’s assistance to (i) review (drafts of) the RIS3 strategies in Poland at the regional, macro-regional, and national level, and provide recommendations on how to help ensure their closer compliance with the European Commission’s ex ante conditionality on “smart specialization”; and (ii) assess the internal coherence of RIS3 strategies at the regional, macro-regional, and national levels.“Poland is expected to receive more than €82.5 billion in structural funds during the new 2014-2020 EU financial perspective, of which about €10 billion will be earmarked for national and regional innovation programs. Profitable investment of these large funds will be key to ensuring long-term and sustainable socio-economic transformation, and continued convergence with the more developed regions and countries,” said Marcin Piątkowski, World Bank Senior Economist and one of authors of the report. “We are very pleased we could assist the Ministry of Infrastructure and Development in reviewing the draft RIS3 strategies and provide recommendations on how to further improve them so that they become a real tool for structural transformation of voivodships’ economies.”According to the Bank’s Review, the existing RIS3 frameworks, while already quite developed, require additional work to be fully in line with the EC’s conditionalities. The key challenges for an innovation framework for Poland are:RIS3 systems at the national and regional levels will need to be further enhanced to constitute a coherent whole;there needs to be more evidence that the newly proposed RIS3 framework goes beyond the “business as usual” from the previous EU financial perspective (2007-2013), which was focused on absorption rather than results;the demarcation between the national, macro-regional, and regional scope of action and lines of responsibility need to be fully clarified;there is also scope for enhancing trust and communication between national and regional governments as well as strengthening the capacity of institutions at all three governance levels; andleadership could also be further strengthened to guide and steer the process of formulating and implementing RIS3s.The report also provides a list of recommendations on how to improve the RIS3s to enhance their impact on national and regional development and help meet the EC’s requirements:improve RIS3s by making them truly operational and easily understandable to the public, introducing a clear action plan for implementation, and leaving space for the required flexibility;strengthen the rationale used to select smart specializations on the basis of robust evidence and a new business planning model;build more internal capacity among key stakeholders;introduce a rigorous monitoring and evaluation system and take steps towards measuring the net effects of public interventions;enhance internal coherence in individual regions between their RIS3, regional development strategy, and regional operational program to ensure that they complement each other;reform the innovation system to eliminate the fragmentation and duplication of resources and responsibilities;provide stronger ownership and leadership, ensuring that the RIS3 belongs to the respective regions, reflects their actual development priorities, and promises efficient implementation; andlook beyond the current financial perspective by ensuring that the innovation system remains self-sustainable, even after the flow of EU funds into the country is reduced post-2020 (to plan how to live without “easy” money). The RIS3 project complements a number of other engagements with the Polish authorities on supporting innovation. Show Less -

WARSAW, April 3, 2014 – World Bank Vice President for Europe and Central Asia Laura Tuck and World Bank Country Director for Central Europe and the Baltic countries Mamta Murthi visited Warsaw this we... Show More +ek to take stock of the partnership between Poland and the World Bank and to discuss medium-term economic prospects and challenges for Poland and the region. This was Tuck’s first visit to Poland since becoming regional Vice President in September 2013.“Poland is a strategic partner for the World Bank. We very much value our mutual cooperation and partnership,” said Laura Tuck, World Bank Vice President for Europe and Central Asia, during her visit to Warsaw. “I am pleased to see that the Polish economy is on the rebound, thanks to a combination of sound policy actions by the Government and positive developments in the Eurozone. The challenge is now to sustain this growth, and to ensure that this renewed prosperity can be broadly shared, including by those with the lowest earnings. In this context, we look forward to working further with the authorities and to sharing international experience that can inform the design of specific reforms.”During their visit, Tuck and Murthi met with Mateusz Szczurek, Minister of Finance; Zbigniew Klepacki, Undersecretary of State in the Ministry of Infrastructure and Development; Marek Belka, President of the National Bank of Poland and Radosław Sikorski, Minister of Foreign Affairs.Tuck and Murthi focused on the development of the partnership between Poland and the Bank under the new Country Partnership Strategy (CPS) for Poland for 2014-2017, and on challenges the region is facing and support that Poland and the Bank can provide.Under the CPS, the World Bank is supporting the Government’s shared prosperity agenda and helping foster sustainable income growth for the 40 percent of the population with the lowest income.The Bank’s current program for Poland focuses on competitiveness, including the business environment, support for innovation, and public finance; equity and inclusion, such as the labor market, reduction of regional disparities, health, and ageing; and sustainability, including the climate change policy, flood protection, and resource- efficient infrastructure. The Bank also supports Poland’s emerging role as a global development partner and the country’s growing voice in the EU. Show Less -

Over the past twenty years, the Polish
health system has undergone several deep systemic changes.
Poland spends more of its healthcare budget on inpatient
hospital ... Show More +care than comparable countries, signaling an area
of inefficiency that requires reform ahead of demographic
trends. Ownership of public hospital facilities is
fragmented between different levels of government, leading
to multiple stakeholders and a lack of accountability.
Poland has made significant progress in rationalizing its
hospital system and reducing the number of beds, but the
reform agenda remains unfinished as evidenced by the
continuing debt issue. This note outlines a path to
improving the financial sustainability of the hospital
sector in Poland. The anatomy of the debt problem is
examined and major obstacles to financial health are
systematically reviewed. The root causes of barriers are
analyzed from a managerial as well as a health system
perspective, including the role of regulatory and financing
constraints. In making the case for change, the report also
discusses how secular trends, for instance in population
health and service delivery, need to be taken into account
as plans to reshape the hospital system are being
formulated. Preliminary recommendations are made
distinguishing: (i) system-level changes which will require
national-level policy interventions, and (ii) options for
Voivodships and facility managers to work better within the
existing system and enhance the chances of selecting no
regret move investments. Show Less -

The Doing Business in Poland study is being commissioned by the Ministry of Infrastructure and Development and Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego (BGK) and is the latest in the doing busi... Show More +ness series in Europe.The report will go beyond Warsaw and study business regulation from the perspective of a small to midsize domestic firms across 18 cities in Poland, capturing local differences in regulations or enforcement at the subnational level and highlighting good practices that can be replicated in different cities throughout Poland. Four indicators will be used to formulate these findings: starting a business, dealing with construction permits, registering property and enforcing contracts.This work emulates work that has been carried out in places similar to Poland – countries that are decentralized and where local regulations and local implementation of national regulation has an impact on the local business environment. Similar reports have been carried out in 355 cities in 55 countries – including the recent Doing Business in Italy. This report found large regulatory differences from one city to another and uncovered good practices that could be leveraged to empower local entrepreneurs and Italian SMEs.Experts and officials in Poland are hopeful that similar outcomes will emerge from the work being conducted in Poland. Starting in April, the team will begin collecting, analyzing, and coding data, with the aim of using this data to draft a report over the course of the year. The report will provide data on the ease of doing business in the selected areas, rank each city, and recommend reforms to improve the business climate at the local level in each regulatory area. This data will also enable peer-to-peer learning between those cities measured.“The main purpose of the Subnational Doing Business studies is to shine the light on what is working and what can be improved upon within the areas measured,” notes Xavier Devictor, World Bank Manager for Poland and the Baltic countries. “We hope that this Subnational Doing Business study will empower policymakers with the right information to inform their policies, enable cross city and voivodeships lesson sharing, and help improve the local business regulatory environment.”The final report is expected to be made available in March 2015. Show Less -

Residents of the Village of Nieboczowy in Poland say it is difficult to forget the hardships of 1997 – the year flood waters tore through the region, killing over 50 people, and destroying 700,000 hom... Show More +es.“We have always had floods, and we had gotten used to them, but 1997 was totally beyond what we expected. Our residents were eventually able to recover, but the fears remained on our minds,” says Nieboczowy Village Head, Krystian Szczotok.Such fears of flooding are finally being put to rest, says Szczotok, thanks to a government-run project now underway in the flood-prone areas of Poland’s Odra River Basin, in the country’s southwest.Under the Odra River Flood Protection Project, flood-prevention structures are being built in the basin area.They include a “dry polder” – a reservoir made to trap dangerous overflow from surrounding rivers, which peak during heavy rains.“When there is a risk of flood coming up, this dry reservoir will be filled with water. It has a double purpose; it will reduce the peak flow of the Odra River, and will prevent it from merging with that of the Nysa Klodzka River,” explains Augustyn Bombala, who is overseeing project construction. Show Less -

The Country Opinion Survey for FY2013 in
Poland assists the World Bank Group (WBG) in gaining a
better understanding of how stakeholders in Poland perceive
the WBG.... Show More + It provides the WBG with systematic feedback from
national and local governments, multilateral/bilateral
agencies, media, academia, the private sector, and civil
society in Poland on 1) their views regarding the general
environment in Poland; 2) their overall attitudes toward the
WBG in Poland; 3) overall impressions of the WBGs
effectiveness and results, knowledge work and activities,
and communication and information sharing in Poland; and 4)
their perceptions of the WBGs future role in Poland. Show Less -

Archaeologists are busy excavating outside the town of Raciborz in Poland’s south. They’re looking for, and in many cases finding, valuable artifacts from Poland’s ancient past, says one of... Show More + the archaeologists, Marek Aniola.“Most are ceramics, pottery ceramics. We found about 60,000 artifacts, which is tremendously rich,” says Aniola who is from the Polish Academy of Science.The archaeological surveys in Raciborz and other regions of Poland’s Odra River Basin make up a cultural heritage component of a regional flood defense project, backed by the World Bank.The Odra River Basin Flood Protection Project is digging and building flood-prevention structures in areas that have suffered severe flooding in the past, but not before each bit of affected terrain is thoroughly examined for possible ancient treasures it might – and often does – hold. Show Less -